CHAPTER 494: CLAIMING WHAT IS HIS

Oscar:

She stirred before she woke.

I had been standing there long enough to recognize the exact moment her breathing shifted - slow, warm exhales turning into something lighter and more conscious. The storm had passed, leaving the room dim and soft, lit only by the bedside lamp I had switched on earlier when I came to check on her.

I half expected her to drift back to sleep.

But then her lashes fluttered.

Her eyes opened slowly, hazy at first, adjusting to the warm glow around her. For a heartbeat she looked peaceful... then her gaze drifted, scanning the room.

And then it landed on me.

She blinked, just once. A tiny flicker of surprise crossed her face before she smiled... small but sweet, enough to punch a breath out of my lungs.

Until the realizations began.

I watched the shift in her expression like a sequence of falling dominos.

First, she felt the warmth at her back.

Her brows pinched, and she slowly turned her head just enough to peek behind her shoulder.

Kieran.

A very naked Kieran.

Asleep. Very much wrapped around her like he had no intention of ever letting go. One arm heavy over her waist, the other under her pillows, his face buried in her hair.

The second realization hit her like a wave.

I could see the exact moment memory returned to her - the blush that climbed her cheeks, the way her lips parted, the way her breath caught.

She remembered everything that happened before sleep claimed her.

And then came the last realization.

Her gaze dropped... and stopped.

The blanket had slipped low. Too low.

Both her breasts were exposed to open air... and to me.

Her eyes widened. A strangled sound nearly escaped her throat before she yanked the blanket up, pulling it to her chest in a rush.

I lifted an eyebrow.

I didn’t say anything, but she caught the message clearly in my mind.

Why hide what I have already worshipped?

What I already know is mine?

Her lips parted, maybe to explain or make some flustered noise.

But I had given her enough time to overthink.

I pushed off the wall.

Her eyes followed me - wide, startled, glued to every move - as I walked toward the bed. My fingers worked at my shirt buttons as I moved.

One. Two. Three.

Her breathing picked up.

Four. Five.

The shirt slipped from my shoulders in one easy motion.

Her eyes followed every single move.

Good.

Then my hands went to my belt.

Her mouth opened... finally finding her voice.

"Oscar-"

But the sound broke when my belt hit the floor.

And then my pants... along with my boxers.

Her breath hitched - loud enough for me to hear even over the quiet hum of the room. She stared at me openly, her eyes trailing down my body before she could stop herself.

And when her gaze finally reached mine again...

Stars.

The way she looked at me - shocked, flustered, drawn in despite herself - ignited something deep and possessive in my chest.

I didn’t wait for her to ask what I was doing.

I climbed into the bed.

The mattress dipped beneath my weight as I slid under the covers, turning fully to her, closing the last bit of distance.

Only then did she manage words.

"What are you doing?"

Her voice was a whisper - thin, breathy, already affected.

My hand found her waist first, her skin warm under my fingers.

My other hand rose to her face, cupping her cheek with a tenderness that contrasted sharply with the heat building inside me.

My thumb brushed her lips.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

"Claiming what is mine," I whispered.

Her breath caught.

And I kissed her.

She inhaled sharply against my mouth, a soft, startled sound that melted instantly into something warmer. She kissed me back almost immediately. There was no hesitation, no doubt... her lips parting beneath mine, welcoming me with a heat that shot straight through my veins.

I shifted closer, deepening the kiss, letting every ounce of restraint fall away. Her hand curled into my shoulder, gripping me as if she needed the anchor.

I felt my brother finally waking up behind her, his arm still draped lazily over her waist, but right now her attention was fully, wholly on me.

Her lips were soft and warm, moving with mine in a rhythm that made my pulse pound. I tilted her chin up gently, savoring the small sound she made when I did, savoring the way she leaned toward me without thought.

Stars, she tasted like warmth and want and everything I had been craving since the moment I walked into the room and found her curled against my brother.

I kissed her with everything I had... with all my love, care, yearning, jealousy, and possessiveness poured into it.

And she kissed me back like she couldn’t get enough of me.

My mouth moved slowly at first, savoring, then with growing hunger, with the kind of intensity that made her fingers tighten on my arm. Her breathing grew uneven, her body pressing into mine subconsciously as the kiss deepened and deepened.

I could feel the moment she stopped thinking entirely.

When her lips followed mine without hesitation.

When a soft sigh escaped her.

When she melted into my touch like her body remembered mine just as vividly as mine remembered hers.

I drew back only when we needed to breathe, my forehead resting lightly against hers.

Her lips were swollen.

Her cheeks flushed.

Her eyes half-lidded, warm, wanting.

I didn’t speak.

I didn’t have to.

I kissed her again... slow this time, lingering, as if sealing something between us.

Then my mouth drifted lower.

To her jaw.

Then beneath her ear.

Then to the curve of her neck.

She shivered.

My hand slipped from her waist... slowly, deliberately... downward, tracing the line of her hip, then lower until it touched the soft skin of her inner thigh.

Her breath hitched.

Then hitched again as my fingers eased higher, brushing the sensitive skin there, coaxing her thighs to relax, to open, to let me closer.

I nipped lightly at her neck.

"Oscar..." she whispered.

Her voice trembled.

I smiled against her skin.

And kept moving my hand upward.